Mamadou Diarra Talks Commitment

The rising big man out of New York made the call and committed to the University of Connecticut just now over VCU. In the past his high school coach has said UConn is his dream school and that was too much for the new VCU coaching staff to overcome. The 6’8″ 215lbs. will attend Woodstock Academy next year with fellow UConn recruit Hamidou Diallo then will be on campus the following year.

Diarra had this to say about what his biggest reason is for committing to UConn, “My trust in coach Ollie and knowing that he will get the best out of me. They told me that I can play big minutes because they don’t have a post player that rebounds at a really high level and they think I can do that.” Diarra is known as a high energy player and his best part of his game is his rebounding.

This past weekend I talked to him about UConn and he had this to say, “It’s always been a school that I watched and liked. The campus is really nice and the location is really good because it isn’t too far, but isn’t too close to New York.” He also talked about his visit to UConn a couple of weeks ago. “I got to see most of the campus and all the facilities that the basketball team uses. I really liked the new practice facility and that they give each player their own key. That means you can go to the gym as much as you want,” he explained.

It’s been clear all throughout his recruitment that he has been very interested in UConn and the past month or so the UConn coaching staff reciprocated the interest. At that point it seemed only like a matter of time before he committed to being a future UConn husky.

Asked if the big man had something to say to UConn fans he responded with this, “Thank you for letting me in to the family. It should be a great 4 years when I come.”

Diarra is a solid start to a crucial 2016 recruiting class for Kevin Ollie and his coaching staff. There’s the possibility of more than five scholarships being open so the class with hopefully be relatively big and filled with talent. In addition to Diarra the staff is looking to add at minimum a point guard and a wing. Alterique Gilbert looks to be favoring UConn at this point after his official visit and V.J. King is taking an official visit next weekend.

Here’s a recent breakdown of his game from Cox Hub:

1. Size – Big men are always at a premium at the next level and so college coaches go out of their way to identify and prioritize the best ones early in the process. Diarra is a prime example of that. And while he may only be six-foot-eight (at the most), he has long arms and a very small neck, meaning his functional size is actually more than most people give him credit for.

2. Power – Diarra has a naturally powerful frame. He not only goes right into contact on both ends of the floor, but he also goes right through it. But one of the most intriguing parts about his long-term potential is that he still has plenty of room left on his frame to add additional muscle mass. It often times goes unnoticed because of how broad his shoulders are, but Diarra doesn’t have nearly as much visible muscle mass as you might expect. What happens when he gets in a college weight program and adds another 20 pounds of muscle? He’ll only be that much more of a force inside the paint.

3. Athleticism – He gets off his feet quickly and with good timing, can jump off one foot without breaking his stride or power up off of two, and can play up towards the top half of the box. Diarra isn’t just a leaper though. He runs the floor, moves laterally and also has good reflexes and reactions for a guy his size. Those are all factors that will impact his production at the next level and in areas that range from finishing to rebounding to blocking/contesting shots to ball-screen defense.

4. Motor – For all of his unique physical gifts, this is the factor that fuses it all together. If there were only one word to describe Diarra it would be “beast.” He rips rebounds out of the air, powers up two-handed dunks in traffic and just seems to have too many physical gifts and too much energy to be denied. Even better, that motor is non-compromising. He plays as hard as he can every time out, regardless of how many shots, touch or other individual accolades he may receive. Regardless of any limitations in his game – and every player has them – those attributes alone are enough to make him a productive player in any college basketball league in the country.

5. Learning Curve – This is perhaps the most under-appreciated part of Diarra’s game and potential for the next level. He’s such an imposing physical presence inside the paint that the fact that he’s made steady strides in his skill set has gone relatively unnoticed. Diarra may never be the type of low post scorer who can anchor a half-court defense but he’s developed a soft shooting touch out to the elbow, has starting to develop a bouncy baby hook on the block and has even shown a flash or two of passing intellect. Is he ready to impact a college game with these skills? No. But the point is that he’s continuing to develop new aspects of his game and if he continues along the same path, we could very well see a more skilled version of Diarra a few years down the road then we’ve seen during his high school career.

His rankings:
247Sports: 3 star
ESPN: 4 star
Rivals: 3 star
Scout: 3 star

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